


She Saw Its Ragin' Glory

by Sobari



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Bad Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canonical Character Death, Ego is a better villain than Thanos, F/M, It's almost 2020 and I'm still upset about GAMORA, Not A Fix-It, Sad Ending, So much WORSE, but sadly this is, it's worse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 05:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21156104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sobari/pseuds/Sobari
Summary: Quill collapsed to his knees when the realization of what he just did hit him. The distress must’ve been apparent on his face because Mantis hovered over him nervously, not touching him despite the urge of wanting to.Stark sat defeated on his perch as he questioned why Strange would give the time stone to Thanos for his life.Because Quill fucked up,Quill’s mind unhelpfully supplied.Because it was the only way,Strange replied.Bullshit.“I had to.”“I did what I had to do.”Fuck-ingbullshit.





	She Saw Its Ragin' Glory

Quill collapsed to his knees when the realization of what he just did hit him. The distress must’ve been apparent on his face because Mantis hovered over him nervously, not touching him despite the urge of wanting to.

Stark sat defeated on his perch as he questioned why Strange would give the time stone to Thanos for his life.

_ Because Quill fucked up, _ Quill’s mind unhelpfully supplied.

_ Because it was the only way, _Strange replied.

Bullshit.

_ “I had to.” _

_ “I did what I had to do.” _

Fuck-ing _ bullshit. _

Quill bit his lips hard to contain his screams as he rubbed the palm of his hands roughly over his face, “Why her?”

Nebula stood off to the side, not looking at anyone. Her eyes closed in the same grief that overcame the rest of the guardians.

“Why Gamora?” Quill asked again, searching for an answer to a question he doesn’t know what he’s asking for, “Tell me!”

“I don’t know!” Nebula shouted back in bursts of anger because it was the easiest emotion to handle.

"You said Thanos took Gamora to Titan!" Quill got to his feet and stepped closer to Nebula as Drax and Mantis hovered near to intervene if necessary, "You said–" Quill's face twisted. His grip on his anger was slipping, "You said she would be here." His voice cracked. The grief slowly slipped into his voice despite his best attempts to contain his emotions.

Nebula's black eyes held their steady gaze at Quill. She was silent for a few seconds, deciding what to say before she shut her eyes in defeat, "Thanos only needed her to know the stone's location. She was of no use to him after that. She's gone, Quill." If this were the Nebula a few years back, Quill wouldn't have caught the faint quiver in her voice or believed that it was there. The grief in her eyes was closed to the world, and the finality of her tone was the knife of reality.

His breath hitched as he shook his head. It wasn't possible_ . _ She was the strongest person he knew; she wouldn't die so easily. She was Gamora.

_But it was Thanos,_ a little voice in him said.

His breathing quickened, and the small headache in the back of his head started to make itself prominent, “No.”

Mantis hovered closer in sensing his distress. Her hand was already reaching out to him, “Peter… you have to calm down.” He didn’t seem to hear her. Instead, he would've fallen onto his knees if it weren’t for Drax catching him. Mantis let out a small yelp before dropping to her knees to see if she could do anything to assist her brother.

“Quill!”

“Peter!”

The shouts of alarm attracted the attention of the others' to the small group clustered around the fallen guardian. He trembled and shook as he struggled to breathe, but he couldn't draw any _ breath. _The guilt was choking him in thick waves. If he only had been able to kill her as he promised, if only Quill took her far, far away from this mess, if only he could have kept his cool, then they could pull the damn glove off and maybe get her back–

It was all his fault.

“He’s going into shock.”

“Do it, Mantis.”

The voices fade into the background as the pounding headache grew bigger until it felt like his head was cracking open. And then there was light.

**◊◆◊◆◊◆◊**

“Peter.”

Quill's eyes snapped open to come face to face with open space. He sat up abruptly, hands flying to activate his mask until he realized he could breathe. What in the–

“Peter.” The voice made all his hair stand straight up. Quill spun around to see Ego. The man spread out his arms and smiled, “My son, it has been some time.”

“Stay back!” Quill snarled when Ego attempted to take a step forward. Quill's hand flew to his side and came up with nothing. His eyes snapped up to Ego and bared his teeth, “Where the hell am I? What have you done to my friends?!”

Ego executed a sense of calmness that irked Quill as he gestured at the space around them, “Look around you. It’s just us here, your friend and avenger companions are fine at the moment.”

“What does that suppose to mean? And where is here?”

Ego folded his hands behind his back and started walking around Quill, “Space, a vision. Or for a more precise answer, in your head, Peter.”

_ “Bullshit.” _ Quill snarled again, but despite the act, a cold hand wrapped around his heart, “I’m pretty sure I would’ve noticed a fucking freeloader picking around in my brain.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ego said curiously, raising a brow as he glanced at Quill, “There’s a lot for you to learn, my son.”

Quill squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears, “You’re not real. We killed you. You’re just a hallucination!”

Ego hummed, “That you did. I had to find a temporary home to recover from that. Fortunately, you were the closest. It took me a while to regain my strength without killing you in the process. But, I figured to let you have your fun, letting you enjoy life with your friends until their time comes.”

Quill felt the cold grip on his heart tightened, and claws sliced through his stomach, stirring up the acid that leaked into his guts. It couldn’t be true. It was all a lie. But Ego was here, and he was in his head for years. His legs struggled to support the increasing weight upon his shoulders.

Quill flinched back violently as Ego took a step closer. Quill tripped over his feet, and his legs refused to cooperate, making him tumble back on his ass. The acid sloshed in his guts, threatening to rise and choke him.

Ego kneeled to Quill's eye-level, wearing the concerned expression of a caring father, but Quill knew better. He knew the monster under the mask. The monster who claimed to love his mother, but still killed her without her knowing any better. The same monster who nearly killed his friends and managed to get his dad in the process. The same monster who used him like a fucking battery to kill a good amount of people on various planets.

Ego’s fingers brushed against his cheek, his gaze proud, “That was all you, Peter.”

No.

“Don’t you remember it? How did it feel? The power rushing through you as you fueled the Expansion?”

Quill laughed, a harsh and barking sound, "Yea, that was you fucking stabbing me!" He slapped Ego's hand away and backed away to put some distance between them, but Ego didn't seem bothered about it.

Ego hummed again, "Yes… I may have lost my temper and acted a bit harsh. But it was nothing a son of mine couldn't handle." Ego continued before Quill had a chance to retort, "Peter. Deep down, you know it. They're all insignificant and will inevitably fall with time. But us? We're immortal, Peter. Their lives are just a couple of necessary sacrifices to make the galaxy perfect."

Quill’s lips pulled into a smile with too many teeth, “So like Thanos?”

Ego’s face immediately morphed into something offended. His scarf fluttered behind him as he walked away with heavy steps, _ “Thanos.” _ He said with disdain, “Is a pathetic child trying to play god. _ He _ seeks to destroy for his satisfaction without a thought for the consequences. _ I _only want to cleanse the universe; help set everything right.”

Rage bubbled under Quill’s skin, “What the hell is the damn difference?!” He shouted, “You and Thanos, you both want to wipe out everything! You guys are the same egomaniacs set on killing people just for some stupid goals. You don’t care for your kids; you don’t care for anyone but yourself and your delusional ideas!”

When Ego raised his hand, Quill instinctively shrank back and shut his eyes. But the pain of being impaled never came. Ego sighed, causing Quill to crack an eye open. Ego’s hand came down gently on the blond curls, brushing through the locks in a parental manner that made Quill torn between feelings of longing and disgust.

“Unlike Thanos, I would never kill you, Peter.” Ego said softly, relishing in the fact that his son was so much like Meredith in both looks and personality. Just like Meredith, his son, too, will see reasoning.

“You killed all my other siblings and probably their moms, too.” Quill spatted venomously, unable to pull away from Ego's touch.

“Never you, Peter. Never you. Not like Thanos.”

Quill frowned in confusion, “What do you mean?” His mind immediately went to Thanos torturing Gamora and Nebula under the guise of discipline and teaching.

Ego only looked at him with sadness. Quill couldn’t tell if Ego was that good at faking it or if he really meant it. Ego’s hand shifted from his hair to his back and pushed him forward, “Come, I’ll show you what Thanos really thinks of his children.”

The scenery changed, space and stars melting into ice and snow. The bitter cold immediately bit into Quill’s skin, slowly sinking into his bones. But his head snapped to the standing figure that he knew so well. His face broke into a smile full of relief.

“Gamora!” He ran forward, arms out to embrace her. His arms wrapped around the air, and only the biting cold embraced him as Gamora walked through him.

Quill stared at his arms in confusion, "W-what–"

"This is just a vision, Peter."

The sound of Gamora's laugh stopped Quill from responding. He snapped his head around to see her grinning up at Thanos.

"All my life, I dreamed of a day, a moment when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed." Gamora shook her head, smiling as she relished in Thanos' failure, "But now, you kill, and torture and you call it mercy. The universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize, and it told you no. You failed. And do you want to know why?" Gamora took a step towards him, tilting her head up to bring down the hammer of truth, "Because you love nothing. No one."

Despite everything, Quill was so proud of his girl, "Yeah! Tell him, babe!"

Ego remained silent.

Thanos turned around to face her as drops of tears dropped to the ground. Quill didn't have a clue why the hell _ he _was crying, but Quill had no sympathy for egomaniacs and, thus, didn't care.

Gamora scoffed, conveying Quill's thoughts, "Tears? Really?"

"They're not for him." Quill finally noticed the floating jack o' lantern dude in the corner, watching everything unfold.

But as he turned back to Gamora, a sense of dread filled him as a realization filled Gamora's eyes.

She took a step back, and then another. She shook her head, "No… this isn't love."

Thanos slowly approached her with something like grief plastered onto his face, "I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again. Even for you."

"You son of a bitch!" Quill marched forward but was tugged back when Ego grabbed his arm. He struggled, "Let me go!"

Gamora, his brave Gamora, spun around with her knife in hand and plunged it into her torso, only for the weapon to disappear into bubbles.

Thanos looked down at her sadly, "I'm sorry, little one."

Hopelessness crushed her with its weight, and Quill couldn't do anything about it. Thanos grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the edge of the cliff.

"No!" Gamora screamed.

"Gamora!"

Quill raced forward, fingers reaching out to grab her, but an invisible force blocked him from reaching her. He screamed and punched the wall in front of him as Gamora fought tooth and nail against Thanos' iron grip.

"Gamora!" Quill slammed himself against the wall, trying to get through.

"It's no use, my son." Ego said calmly, watching Quill's futile efforts, "Nothing will change here."

Quill spun around with a ferocious fury, "Let me through! I have to help her!"

"There's nothing we can do."

"Liar!!" He screamed.

Ego tilted his head in the direction of the scene, and Quill jerked around just in time to see Thanos throwing Gamora off the cliff.

Quill screamed her name as terror gripped him in a choking embrace. He launched forward with nothing stopping him, running faster than he ever had in his life, and yet each step was like in slow motion.

He can make it! His fingers stretched, reaching out to grab her hand. For a moment, he swore he could feel her warmth as their fingers met.

Her fingers went through his, and she fell.

"GAMORA!!!"

Gamora's screams were drowned out by the roaring winds as her hand reached up at nothing, and his own reached out towards hers. The distance was too far to make a difference. Her face twisted up in pure terror and helplessness.

She fell with nothing to stop her from the fall, no one to save her.

Quill watched as she finally hit the ground, vibrant blood spilling around her broken body as her last breath was cut off like fate snipping the string. He lay there across the cold, cruel surface of the cliff; fingers froze in midair as if waiting for someone to grab hold of them. His eyes were staring unblinkingly, refusing to believe what they had seen, what he failed to do again.

"I'm sorry, Peter."

Suddenly, he was kneeling on the ground next to Gamora. Snow collected on her face, gathering in her hair as if it was trying to preserve the strength and beauty of who she once was.

Quill numbly reached out, fingers brushing against the high of her cheekbone, feeling the coldness under his fingertips when there should've been warmth. They trailed up the bridge of her nose and over her eyes to slide them close.

_ “I would be grateful to die among my friends.” _ The whistling wind whispered.

“No…” A sob ripped out of his throat as he pulled her against his chest, ignoring the blood covering his hands in shades of green, “No, no, no!”

Tears rolled down his face, hitting the corners of her eyes before they rolled down her cheek. He clung to her as each sob ripped through his body in violent tremors, brushing hair and snow from her face. The cold wind raged on, ripping into his chest and cutting deep into his heart. It took his beating heart in its icy grip and dug its claws in it, making it ache and ache and ache.

Quill willed her to wake up so he could kiss her and hug her and tell her how going right would have made all the difference. And then they would make it back to their family and dance around on the ship as they laugh together. Then they'll lay together in bed and tell each other how much they mean to each other just by laying there in silence. Their fingers brushing over each other's skin, weaving into each other's fingers and through hair.

She doesn't wake.

A hand rested on his shoulder as his father looked down at him with a slight inkling of sympathy, "I'm sorry, Peter."

"Please…" Quill's voice cracked, "Can't you do anything? You're a god."

Ego sighed and knelt beside him, "Peter." He waited until Quill willingly looked at him, "I know the pain you feel is great. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Tears continued rolling down Quill's face as he jerkily nodded, his expression twisting like he was trying to contain his emotions. But his feelings were without a lid, swirling in a wild tornado that threatened to consume him.

Ego combed through his son's curls, ignoring how Quill flinched away from his touch as his other hand brushed the river of tears from his face, "I can make things better. I can make the pain go away. Everything will be as it should."

A shimmer of hope glimmered in Quill's eyes as he looked down at Gamora.

"Everything will be perfect." Ego assured him.

_ "Please." _ Quill squeezed his eyes shut, clinging onto the small hope of bringing Gamora back, to fix his mistake and making everything right.

Vormir slowly faded into the promised galaxy and the stars kissed upon Gamora’s skin, making it glimmer and shine. Ego stood up and held out a hand to him, "Take my hand, Peter. We’ll make everything right."

Quill stared up at him with hope flickering in his eyes, a brittle and faint thing that only grew with the promises Ego was offering him.

“Take my hand, Peter.”

Like magic words, Quill reached out and timidly placed his hand against Ego’s, ignoring every instinct that told him this was wrong. Quill gripped it tightly like he didn’t want his last hope to slip from his fingers. Ego pulled Quill to his feet and into an embrace, whispering promises into his ears.

Ego sent Quill’s mind to drift with the stars. He planted a kiss against his son’s temple, chasing away the memories that would cause his son pain, erasing and fixing all in a few seconds. Quill let out a soft sigh and snagged into Ego’s arms.

“That’s it, Peter. Finish what we started.”

**◊◆◊◆◊◆◊**

Quill was floating. The beautiful galaxy swirling in his eyes was all he could see.

Someone gasped and violently flinched away from his side. Someone drew their blades, snarling. Voices grew louder in negativity.

He didn’t know why they were fighting, but it was okay. He tried to tell them; he didn’t know if he did. He felt around for the roots, the bits, and pieces of the seeds his father planted.

He’ll make everything better. He thought someone called his name, but his purpose was louder.

His roots dug deeper, settling into the planet’s core, changing it to be his and only his.

“Peter!”

“Quill! What are you doing?!”

A tune entered his ears, dulling the screams and shouting around him.

_ But my life, my lover, my lady is the sea. _

_ “Peter, this is the sea.” _

A hand reached out past the light, familiar and green.

He smiled and took her hand in his.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this in my folder for months. Why do I like treating my favorite characters like this? I haven't had the faintest clue.
> 
> The title is from _Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)_ by Looking Glass
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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